Clipless pedals are perhaps the most common upgrades made to a bicycle, whether the bicycle is intended for road or mountain biking. The many advantageous afforded by clipless pedals include comfort, weight reduction and aerodynamics.
A number of clipless pedal designs have been made commercially available. Among the more popular of these designs is the pedal system disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,942,778 and 5,213,009 of the present inventor, which are incorporated herein by reference. The cleat and pedal combination described in these patents was the first system which located the locking mechanism within the cleat instead of on the pedal. Among other advantages, the placement of the locking mechanism, which consists of a pair of diametrically opposed inwardly biased tongues or wires, allows the pedal to be symmetrical, such that either the top or the bottom of the pedal can be mated with the cleat. This improvement makes it significantly easier to engage the pedal with the cleat, which has been a major drawback with other clipless pedals. Another major feature of these pedal systems is that they provide a generous "float range", which is the degree of rotation that the rider's foot will have without actually disengaging the locking mechanism. Typically the pedal systems disclosed in these patents permit over 30.degree. of float compared with 0.degree.-9.degree. for other commercial pedal systems. The advantage of as large range of float is that it eliminates restrictions on the natural rotation of the leg during pedaling. Nonetheless, some riders who have become accustomed to the restrictive nature of other clipless pedal systems have experienced a level of discomfort with the virtually frictionless movement after changing over to the patented system.
With the availability of improved clipless pedal designs, efforts have been directed toward decreasing the weight of the pedal systems. While lightweight metals such as titanium are commonly incorporated into bicycle technology, mass production using these metals requires expensive and time consuming machining steps. On the other hand, high strength impact resistant plastics, although lightweight and easy to mold, still may not possess the strength to withstand the repeated stresses and impacts of engaging and disengaging a locking mechanism.
It would be desirable to provide a pedal of composite construction which exploits the advantages of both metal and plastics while simultaneously avoiding the negative aspects of each material. It would also be desirable to provide a means for controlling the float range to permit riders to adapt the clipless pedal system to their own comfort level.